Many thermal energy generators have serious pollution or other hazardous problems. For instance, radioactive thermal energy generators have the possibility of causing radioactive contamination. Fossel fuel systems can cause serious pollution problems and also carry the risk of fire. For these and other important reasons the use of magnets to generate thermal energy appears to be very attractive.
Permanent magnet thermal generators avoid these problems and offer many advantages. Such magnetic generators produce no flame and hence no pollution and no threat of fire or explosion which means that they can be used in a flammable or explosive environment. In fact permanent magnetic thermal generators can be used in conjunction with a heat transfer fluid that is flammable or explosive. Also, of course, permanent magnetic generators have no problems related to radiation or with radioactive contamination such is the case with nuclear thermal generating systems.
Permanent magnetic thermal generators are also very compact and can be used with various types of inputs. The heat produced by a permanent magnetic generator is also comparatively confined and it is also possible to readily transfer this heat to a working fluid.
A number of permanent magnet thermal generators have been suggested in the past. Some of these permanent magnet thermal generators are set forth in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,511,777 and 4,614,853. The permanent magnet thermal generators set forth in these patents produce fine results for their intended purposes, but the present invention offers some very definite unexpected improvements to the permanent magnet thermal generators set forth in these patents. These permanent magnet thermal generators use rotating magnets that are satisfactory for many uses, but have the undesired effects of putting rotating stresses on the magnets and dispersing the thermal energy among others.
The present permanent magnet thermal generator provides the previous benefits available from permanent magnet thermal generators such as avoiding pollution and the like, but in addition has important new advantages. Such advantages include stationary magnets that increase the efficiency and simplicity of the permanent magnet thermal generator and the ability to concentrate the heat produced and to transfer this heat in a more efficient manner. In addition, the invention has provisions for recirculating the heat transfer fluid that increases the efficiency of the permanent magnet thermal generator.